


Mad Men

by NanaUnnie



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies), The 100 (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Multi, The 100 crossover Mad Max
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-16 15:09:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4629912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanaUnnie/pseuds/NanaUnnie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bellamy discovers a whole new world the moment he leaves camp to find his princess. New clans, different cultures and a very weird man who claims to know Clarke and the clan she has joined, the Many Mothers,</p><p>will they be able to, together, find Clarke and bring her back home to her people?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is probably the weirdest thing I'm gonna write, but I have a good feeling about it. It is a Bellarke ff but will mainly be about the bonding and platonic relationship between Bellamy Blake and Max Rockatansky (Mad Max). Until in the end they both find what they were looking for. (Redemption maybe?)

It had been five months, two weeks and four days since Clarke left Camp Jaha, not that Bellamy counted the days; he’d never admit it anyways.  
It had been almost half a year already. Half a year without his blonde girl storming around, changing the world, making him reason. When talking about love, people mentioned things like warmth, butterflies and happiness, that’s why Bellamy didn’t think it was the right word for his feelings for Clarke; words like despair, loneliness and rage felt much more suited for whatever his feelings for her were.

  
Since she wasn’t around his new confidant and co-leader (even though he said Bellamy was his assistant) had become Kane, there was something in him that Bellamy had grown to like, Kane listened to his ideas and agreed with him, he even came to him for help when he had doubts about anything.  
Helping around camp was the only thing Bellamy felt he could do; since Clarke had left something in him had left with her, he wasn’t sure what it was, but probably something along the lines of his sanity.

  
He’d wake up screaming every other night, when asked he’d say he didn’t remember what he dreamt about, but by now he knew his nightmares by heart; they always involved blood dripping down his hands, piles of bodies covering the floor he walked on and Clarke, always with her back to him, walking away. He’d wake up and Octavia, who slept with Lincoln in the tent beside his, would come running, hushing him and hugging him, repeating over and over ‘it was just a dream, it was just a dream…’ But the problem was that it wasn’t just a dream, and he couldn’t shake the feeling off him.  
He had started having trembling problems, around the second month after Mount Weather, he’d suddenly get caught by his dark memories and his breathing would get heavy, and his hands would begin to tremble uncontrollably. It was Abby who noticed first, to his surprise, or maybe not, since she had been having a rough time herself after her daughter left.

  
He wouldn’t know how to describe their relationship, they didn’t really get along, but they had this unspoken connection; sometimes when Bellamy couldn’t sleep he’d go sit in front of the entrance, where he’d last seen her, and he’d find Abby there, standing, looking into the forest, waiting… So they understood each other and when Abby had noticed the trembling and the breathing problems she had obliged him to slow down, generally. She never told anyone, but people noticed and Bellamy felt it, in their pitying eyes. He couldn’t stand them, for looking at him that way, but he himself was scared he was slowly losing his mind.

  
Lincoln stopped him one day and told him he wanted to talk to him, it wasn’t weird anymore, Bellamy had grown to trust the man, he liked him and was grateful for all his help around camp. Lincoln told him he had noticed his distress (which had hurt Bellamy’s pride for he was not a damsel, but he had let it go that one time) and he recommended him to start a morning routine, to wake up early and just walk, walk around the forest, walk around camp, maybe even walk till the river; he said he’d be surprised how much it’d calm his spirit, and even though it had seemed useless at first, Bellamy had adopted that morning routine, and even started to enjoy it.  
At first he’d only walk around camp, watching in case of enemies, he said, but he wouldn’t really watch anything, he just walked and kicked little stones from his way, feeling stupid. But as days passed by he started to take longer walks and in the end he walked till the river; he did it every day, he’d wake up when mostly everybody was still asleep, pack a bag with food and a bottle of water and he’d walk all the way to the river, which was a good two hours, and go back when the camp was already on his feet.  
He didn’t say it to his face but Lincoln was right, he didn’t know if it was the walking or the forest but a calmness had grown inside him, and when the trembling started he’d imagine the sound of the wind passing through the leaves and it’d soothe his worries, he was grateful for that.

 

\------

He woke up that morning later than usual, which was weird. He could already hear movement around. Life in Camp Jaha had become quiet peaceful after all these months, and something about the way people just fell back into a normal routine made him feel nauseous.  
He took a deep breath and sat up on his bed for a few seconds, burying his face in his hands, he tried to shake off the flashes from his nightmare and started to pack faster than usual. It was getting colder these days so he took his jacket with him and packed his bag with food and water, he took a few extra rations just in case.  
Just when he was about to walk outside a certain object in the corner of his room caught his eye, it was the gun, his gun; the one he had used in Mount Weather and had brought back to camp with him; he didn’t know why but he took it with him, he had a weird feeling about today.  
When he walked out he was relieved to see no one was outside yet so he walked a bit faster to the entrance, where he saw a familiar figure sitting in Bellamy’s usual spot, it was the first time he had seen her there at this hour. He walked to her and stopped by her side, she didn’t look at him, she just gazed onward, Bellamy thought it must be her little sanctuary, this moments, where she exposed all her worries and just waited there, looking for a shadow that never came. He almost jumped in surprise when he suddenly heard her raspy voice ‘Will you bring her back today?’, something in the distant way she asked it seemed to him as though she wasn’t really expecting an answer, so he just turned back to the forest and started his morning walk, her words resonating in the back of his mind.

By now he knew the way by heart, he could walk there with his eyes closed, but he’d rather not; grounders hadn’t been coming so close to camp since what happened, but there had been exceptions. He walked the good two hours north till the river, slowly, he didn’t want to get tired so early in the morning and before he had anything to eat. So when he finally got there he took a deep breath and sat under a tree for a few minutes, he took out one of his food portions and ate it; he stayed there, for a little while, it felt so relaxing, just closing his eyes and listening to the weird noisy silence of the woods, he felt like he could forget everything that he had done in the past few months in here, like he could lose it between these trees.

Creak, the sound of footsteps woke Bellamy up, he hadn’t even realized he had fallen asleep, his eyes opened wide and he grabbed the gun as fast as he could without making any sound. He looked around without moving an inch and relaxed a bit when he saw no one was on sight. He stayed put for a couple of minutes until he was sure no one was out there and then he let himself get up, slowly, quietly. It could have been an animal, he thought, but knowing how dangerous this forests were he decided not to let his guard down and walked while looking around in every direction.

That’s when he noticed something strange, the river was filling up with weird objects; the current had brought them from the North. He came a bit closer, still holding the gun ready to fire. It looked like there had been an explosion or a big accident; there were pieces of broken wood, like part of a house, a wreckage. He was getting nervous by the seconds, but it was obvious this had happened far from here, the wood looked like it had been for a long time in the water. He got closer, starting to look through everything he could catch; maybe something would be useful or would tell him what had happened. He saw fabrics that looked like they could have been clothes, plants that were tied together by strings that were now tearing apart, he thought it was probably too late to find something of use since everything was already wet and ruined when he suddenly got a glimpse of something shiny in between some rocks, something familiar about it made him walk over it and pick it up, it was some kind of black worn out fabric with some kind of metal spikes on it, it took him a while to understand it was a glove.

And suddenly it hit him like a rock in the head, he’d seen this glove before, he’d held the hand that wore this glove, it was hers, it was Clarke’s.

He couldn’t even process what was happening, he had just found Clarke’s glove, in between what could only be a wreckage. Did that mean she was on danger? That she was involved in some kind of accident? Was she still alive?  
He could feel his heart clenching and his hands start trembling, he tried to calm himself down concentrating on the sounds around him instead the metaphorical screaming in his head.  
He looked around in case there was anything else lying around there, something that belonged to her, a clue, anything.  
A few minutes passed but he couldn’t find anything else, he looked down at her glove, he held it with all his strength, afraid if he let go it would disappear and he’s realize he was dreaming, this was the closest thing to Clarke he had seen or held to him in the last half year. He had to calm himself back down again before he started having a panic attack right there and then.  
If the wreckage had come from the north, that’s where he’ll go, he didn't care anymore about any unspoken promise of not going after her, he couldn't hold himself back, he couldn’t go back to camp knowing she might be in danger, if she was even still alive.

After a couple of minutes of eating his mind out, trying to convince himself this was the right decision, he took his first steps, heading north, away from camp and hopefully closer to Clarke; with no idea if this was really the right way to go or if maybe he had finally lost his mind and this wasn’t even her glove, but something inside of him told him that this was the right thing to do, so that’s what he did.

There was something weird about today anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy finds he has no idea where he's getting himself into, tree houses,white faced grounders and a silent stranger.

Half a day had passed by and it was starting to get dark, all along he had held on to Clarke’s glove, as if his life depended on it; but it didn’t really help since he hadn’t found any other clue on his way, he had just succeeded on getting lost in the woods.   
As the hours passed all the energy he had at first started vanishing and he felt more and more like a fool, like his mind was playing tricks on him, the trees were mixing with one another and the trembling had come back, so he decided he needed to stop and rest for a while.

‘Fuck…’ He groaned while leaning on a tree, he hadn’t stopped walking in hours and his feet were sore.

He wondered if they were worried back in camp, if someone had noticed, probably Octavia. But not having to worry about camp and having that big guilt weight on his shoulder were quiet nice. He had grown to dislike most of the adults that had come from the Ark, mostly because he saw the disappointment in his eyes, so many of their children were dead because he hadn’t been a good enough leader.   
He closed his eyes and rested his head on the tree, he took a deep breath, taking in all the scents surrounding him, it was weird how peaceful nature could stay while a storm raged in his mind, he smiled to himself at that thought and opened his eyes again.

‘What the hell?’ His eyes widened, he could see some kind of structure in between the branches of the trees. He had gotten to a point in the woods were the trees were so abundant you could barely see through them, which made everything look a bit darker; but from this angle he could see it, it was an actual tree house. 

He jumped up, looking for a way to climb, he couldn’t see any clear way, there weren’t stairs and the trees didn’t have branches on their lower part so he couldn’t just climb up. After about ten minutes of wandering around he noticed one of the nearby trees had little wooden bumps forming a disguised ladder on it. That had to be the way to climb up, but he was shocked by how incredibly camouflaged everything was, if he hadn’t lay on the tree he probably would have never found it.

He put his gun in between his body and the bag and started to climb the tree, he wasn´t very good at it, it was harder than it seemed to climb the damn tree and although his feet hurt he didn’t let it stop him. While climbing he noticed there was a way to jump from one branch directly into one of the windows of the tree house, so after thinking about it for about a minute and being completely sure no one was inside the house, he jumped.

He landed a bit roughly, hurting his shoulder, but got up quickly to check his surroundings, taking out his gun and pointing it at every direction he looked at, it seemed as though no one lived there anymore but you could never be too sure. After a couple of silent minutes he finally let his gun down and started actually looking around, still on the spot he landed on the floor.  
The place might have looked like no one lived there but it was too neat; there weren’t any leaves on the floor or dirt everywhere, yes everything looked abandoned, there was nothing personal, only a couple of worn out wooden chairs and a table and something that might have looked like a bed but was more of a big bunch of leaves covered by a blanket.   
Something about this tree house reminded him of the wreckage he had seen on the river, but then again maybe he was just looking too much into it, his desire to find Clarke could make him see things that weren’t there. He took a deep breath and got up from the spot he had landed on, laid his bag and Clarke’s glove on the table but kept his gun with him.

The house was made of two big rooms, so he went to check out the other room, someone could actually be hiding behind the wall there; but instead of someone he found shelves, they were filled with what seemed like plants and fruits, some had seeds and others had things he didn’t recognize; objects that looked like they were from before the nuclear war.   
He looked around and wondered how it was even possible to build such a house so high in a tree, it felt safe, not like it was about to fall at any moment, but that only made him even surer that someone still lived there; a shiver went down his spine.  
Suddenly something in one of the shelves caught his eye, he almost didn’t recognize it at first because it was torn and very old, but it was an Ark’s food ration, one of the little bags you were given in the less lucky areas of the Ark, it took it in his hand and looked at it over and over. His first thought was Clarke since she could have had some with her but when he looked closely he realized it was older, much older than the ones they had been given. It looked like it was at least five years old but he couldn’t tell exactly because all the dates had faded long ago.

He had no idea what to make of it, if this hadn’t come with the Delinquents or the adults, than how did it? 

He decided to take it with him and get out of that house as quickly as possible. He gripped the gun tighter, walked as silently as he could over the window and jumped to the tree he came from. The fact they had to do all this climbing and jumping only made him think that someone fit and strong had to live here; he slid down a little faster at that thought.  
He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until he lay his feet on the ground and let out all the air in his lungs. 

He started walking again, north, it made sense in a way; south from camp Clarke would only find grounder camps, the ones who wanted them dead. So he walked, he estimated this was the farthest north he’d been yet, since he could see Mount Weather behind farther to the west.   
His mouth felt dry and he remembered he hadn’t had any water for a long time so he thought he might as well fill the metal bottle he brought with him; he had been following the river, always close enough to hear it so he wouldn’t get completely lost. 

That’s when he heard voices, they were muffled by the sounds of the forest but he recognized the language, it was Tridgedasleng. He hid quietly behind the nearby tree and looked back over the river. He saw a couple of grounders resting in the other side of the river, they didn’t look from a tribe he had seen before, their faces and bodies were painted completely white, and even their accent sounded different, not that Bellamy had taken his time to learn the language, but he had heard enough of it.

Suddenly he didn’t know what to do, his first instinct had been to hide and shoot, but this wasn’t war or even a tribe he knew anything about, for all he knew they could be the most peaceful tribe on the ground. He felt guilt forming in his chest, making his breath a bit heavier, but he shook it off before it would get over his mind. They’re not your enemy, he repeated to himself, he’d have to walk away before they noticed his presence, but as soon as he turned to walk away a loud snap made them turn their heads over his direction; his bag had got tangled in a branch and broken it. 

FUCK. 

He stayed absolutely still for about two seconds, but suddenly found himself standing out in their eyesight aiming his gun to one of the grounder’s heads, the shorter one.

‘Don’t move, or I’ll shoot.’ He called; his voice much more hoarse than he intended. They looked at him a little shocked at first and suddenly he saw smiles creeping up their faces, smiles that sent shivers down his spine. 

The taller one even started laughing and called out ‘Ai laik hef, chon sis op son!’ and Bellamy wasn’t sure if he was unlucky to not understand a word he said or rather very, very lucky.  
That’s when he spotted them; they were holding guns, both of them. How could he have not seen them before, he couldn’t believe he had gotten himself into this mess, unless he acted fast he’d be dead in minutes and he couldn’t let that happen, no matter what. He saw the shorter starting to raise the gun and Bellamy pulled the trigger as fast as it was physically possible, his eyes closed for a split second and he heard a second gunshot; that’s it, he thought, they had shot him; but when he opened his eyes again, he saw the grounder he had shot on his knees and a bloody wound over his white torso, and the taller one who had supposedly killed Bellamy lying dead on the floor, a bullet through his head.

What? He looked around, waiting for his savior to appear; he looked at the dead grounder and guessed where the gunshot came from… Behind Bellamy.   
He started to turn, slowly when the sound of what could only be war screams made him jump back to his senses, more grounders were on their way, they had obviously heard the gunshots, he ran to the closest grounder, the one on his knees who was seemingly out of it completely and took a knife he had popping out of his boot.   
He ran as fast as he could back to where he came from, and then he saw it, his so called savior, appearing in between the trees, right when Bellamy was passing him; it was a man, a man he had never seen before, he didn’t even glance Bellamy’s way he was aiming at the grounders behind him, bang, bang, bang; three gunshots, all found their home right in between the eyes of the white faced grounders. Bellamy hadn’t even realized he had stopped to watch him, the fourth grounder that had come after them stopped and shouted some Tridgedasleng nonsense pointing at the man, something that sounded like ‘Jus skat’ and ran away from where they had come from.

Bellamy was frozen in place, he wasn’t sure if he should be running for his life or thanking the man who had saved it, for no apparent reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo for the Tridgedasleng nonsense you can go find out the meaning of it in the incredible blog http://the100discussion.tumblr.com/ ;) (I did my best translating sentences I hope it makes sense)
> 
> And well, I hope ya'll like this.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to be longer but I couldn't stop writing and it got so long I had to divide it in two parts, so here's chapter 3 (a bit short) and soon I'll upload the next one :)

‘W-who are you?’ Bellamy stammered; the stranger put down his gun after a couple of seconds and turned to look at him, something in his eyes scared Bellamy, he looked at him but seemed as if he was looking through him, tangled between the thoughts in his mind. Bellamy looked at him, the man was taller than him he didn’t look exactly like a grounder but his clothes indicated he was, even though he looked more like… A reaper? Or an ex one in this case.

‘Hmm…’ The big man grunted, he looked at Bellamy for maybe half a second and walked right past him. 

‘Wait! Why’d you help me, why’d you kill them?’ Bellamy wasn’t even sure it was a good idea to talk to this man, but down here people didn’t just save each other for nothing. When the man just kept walking not caring about him, he grabbed his gun and pointed it at the man. ‘Answer me.’ 

The big man shook his head quickly, and glared back at him, letting out another of those grunts, it looked to Bellamy as though he moved around like an animal; eyeing everything wearily, moving on instinct.  
Suddenly he reached for something inside his dirty leather jacket and for a second Bellamy thought he was going to shoot him, but before he could react, the man threw something at Bellamy, who grabbed it midair. He looked down at it, but it made no sense… It was Clarke’s glove, how did he, where did he..? He must have lost it on his way, unless…

‘You’re the one who lives in the tree house...’ Bellamy mumbled, more to himself than to the man, for it was already obvious and he wasn’t really listening to him anyways. He kept standing there looking at the glove until he decided he should probably put it in his bag and not lose it ever again. When he looked up the man wasn’t anywhere to be found and Bellamy cursed himself for not making him talk, he looked like he knew what was going around this area, more so than Bellamy. He turned to look at the river, that river was probably some kind of frontier so he probably shouldn’t get too close unless he wanted to meet the psycho white faced grounders again.

He started heading north again, he didn’t know if this was a good idea anymore since Clarke could be anywhere right about now, and he had no idea what was going on so far up north; but when he closed his eyes he could see the blonde haired girl walking away from him, and the fear to never again see her face made him take one step after the other, but after about five steps and a loud CRACK, without having time even to understand what was going on, he saw the world turning in seconds and Bellamy found himself hanging upside down from one of the trees; he had walked into a trap, like an idiot. Have I always been this stupid? He groaned loudly and tried to reach his feet where the rope was tied around, he reached for the knife he had taken from the dying grounder but it only slid down from his pocket and fell to the floor. 

‘FUCK!’ He yelled desperately, this was it? this is how he was gonna die? Taken by the white faced grounders and killed after his useless try to find Clarke? 

He stayed there, spinning helplessly, until he saw the tree house man coming back, for a moment he thought he was going to kill him himself, since he was making those animal-like noises, apparently angry, but when he took out his gun and aimed, it wasn’t on Bellamy, it was farther up on the tree branch he had been caught on. ‘Wait, no, wait!’ A big THUMP was heard when his body hit the floor, he was sure he’d dislocate his shoulder but apart from a raging pain, he was fine. He stood up and eyed wearily the stranger who had saved his life twice already.

‘Thank you…’ He said unsure if the man had done it just to help him or if he was going to play the you owe me your life card and try to use him somehow, but there was an aura to this person, he didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t dislike it (which was a lot for Bellamy, who disliked mostly everyone).

‘Hmm’ The man let out and nodded at him, he then started to turn but stopped again and pointed at the bag that was lying on the floor, all its contents sprayed on the floor ‘Clarke…’ He said then, and Bellamy’s eyes went wide, he was pointing at the glove. He wasn’t sure if he was more shocked about the fact he had said Clarke’s name, which could only mean he knew who she was or by the fact he had actually spoken, which Bellamy had just assumed wasn’t possible.

‘You know her? You know Clarke?’ He asked, anxious. Did that mean she really had gone north? And did that mean she had encountered the crazy white faced grounders? 

‘Do you know where she is?’ He demanded, looking at the stranger dead in the eye, who didn’t look very impressed; he just nodded. Bellamy thought his heart was going to explode; he had gone from not having a damn clue about where to start looking for her; to having a personal, life-saver guide of his own. 

‘Well… Could you tell me where she is?’ Bellamy asked raising an eyebrow at the man, who just stood there looking at him weirdly, making him feel stupid. ‘Look, I know her, ok? I need you to tell me where she is.’ He was already losing his patience, and if he had to end up using violence he wouldn’t hesitate, not at this point. He was eyeing the gun that had fallen beside him when the stranger talked again.

‘She doesn’t want to be found’ He muttered, his voice croaky and rough, like he hadn’t spoken a word in years. ‘And she’s busy’ He added after a few thoughtful seconds. Bellamy felt like jumping at the man and breaking every bone in his body but he probably couldn’t even take one step before he ended up like the white faced grounders. 

‘Fuck this… I know she doesn’t want to be found, but it’s been long enough and look, I know her, ok? I’m her—‘ He wasn’t exactly sure how to end the sentence so he exhaled slowly and clenched his fists. ‘Well who are you anyways, her protector? What do you care if I find her or not?’ He hissed, already giving up on getting any sort of information from the man. 

‘My life, she saved it.’ The stranger stated, simply. There was something about the strange way the man behaved and talked that reminded Bellamy a bit of Lincoln, the short sentences and looks that made you unsure if they were deep and meaningful or without any feelings whatsoever. But anyways the man got on his nerves and he felt like he couldn’t stand listening to his nonsense anymore.

Bellamy shook his head and picked back up all his belongings, he felt like he was even more lost than when he walked out of camp that same morning. He looked up at the sky and noticed it was getting dark, in a couple of hours it would be pitch black, he had to camp.   
He got up and was surprised to see the man was still standing there, arms crossed, looking at him ‘If you’re not gonna help me out than you can go fuck yourself somewhere else, thanks for saving my life.’ He snapped, gripped tight his bag and walked past the big man, refusing to look back even though he was curious whether he was still standing there, unwavering. 

 

Bellamy had never been this far north and therefore didn’t know these woods, but after an hour and a half of walking around, trying not to get too close to the river he had found something similar to a cave, it seemed to be an old crumbling building, he tried to look around and see if he found some kind of sing or indication of what the building used to be but everything was either torn or faded by all the years that had passed. He had thought at first that it couldn’t be a good idea to stay here since there was probably someone already using it, but after checking the place in and out and from top to bottom he decided it was safe and had started a fire in the farthest place from the entrance he could find.  
The place was empty from any furniture so he assumed it had been stolen long ago, used by the grounders, he wondered why it was empty now.

He got his answer when it started raining in the middle of the night, he was sleeping when drops of water had started falling in his face, and body, and all around him. He jumped up and saw the water was dripping from the ceiling and had even killed the fire; he was trembling and getting wetter by the second. He grabbed his bag and gun and ran until the edge of the cave building, yes there was water falling through the ceiling but outside it was pouring like there was no tomorrow. He cursed out loud and damned the brilliant moment he decided to walk out of bed that day but knowing that Clarke was out there, alive, calmed him down. He sat there, on the edge between the pouring rain and the crumbling building, trembling uncontrollably; he had to find a dry place to start another fire before he’d catch pneumonia, if he fell asleep now, he’d most likely die.   
And right when his eyelids were getting so heavy he couldn’t keep them open anymore, still trembling like a child, he saw a figure walking his way through the rain, he couldn’t focus his eyes enough to see any more than a big dark silhouette and next thing he knows, he’s floating in the air and the raindrops are hitting his face, caressing his skin like little flowers, it felt so nice to finally fall asleep, he wondered why he hadn’t before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we got to meet the Stranger (aka Max but shhhh), I hope you like this and I'm sorry if there are a lot of grammatical mistakes, English is not my first language :(


	4. Chapter 4

He woke up coughing his lungs out, but before he had time to make out his surroundings someone shoved a cup full of a very weird smelling beverage in his hands, it’s boiling hot and Bellamy held on to it as if his life depended on it (which was probably the case).  
He felt shivers up and down his spine and wasn’t exactly sure if he was feeling cold or hot, last thing he remembered was the cave and the rain but he couldn’t recall what happened after he fell asleep. When he was finally able to focus his eyes enough to see something he was more than disgusted at the sight of the drink in his hands, maybe it was the light, or the lack thereof but it looked black and green and smelled like Miller’s feet on his bad days. 

‘Drink’ a throaty voice sounded in the distance and Bellamy finally looked around. Just then he realized he knew where he was, no wonder he felt so stiff and uncomfortable, he was laying in the wanna be bed made of leaves of the tree house, he looked up to see the stranger sitting a few feet away from him, watching him with those strange eyes of his. He felt amused to find he was not even a little bit surprised by the fact it was the man who had saved him from a sure death in the woods. Again. 

Not being sure what to say he just nodded and took a sip from the atrocious drink, it tasted better than it smelled, he had to admit, but that wasn’t really hard to accomplish. He gulped down the rest of it and left the cup beside him; he was feeling a little better already and wondered what the hell it contained. ‘Thank you’ he decided was the right thing to say, even though the words tasted bitter in his mouth. He got a ‘Hmm’ and a nod as an answer and Bellamy decided he liked the lack of words from the stranger.

‘Well, are you going to tell me what you want from me, or did you just feel like being a good person today?’ Bellamy asked, sarcasm clear in his voice. The stranger looked like he was actually thinking about it and his answer wasn’t what Bellamy expected; 

‘I’d say I felt like it…’ Bellamy could swear he saw a grin creeping up his face but it was such a weird sight he blamed it on his fever. ‘You should sleep’ He added and got up from his spot, taking the empty cup from Bellamy’s side, just to fill it back up again and placing it in the same place. Bellamy wanted to protest or come back with something witty to say but his fever took every strength left in his body and he thought maybe there was some sedative in his drink while his eyelids closed, feeling heavier by the second.

When he opened his eyes he was there again, in that hell-like place, where the floor was covered in bodies. All the bodies pointed towards the same direction and he followed it just to find the back of the blonde girl walking away from him, and no matter how much he ran he couldn’t get any closer, he looked down at his feet to find all the bodies were grabbing him with bloody hands, he wanted to scream but no sound came out, he tried to call her name but he couldn’t remember what it was and just when he was about to lose it all the bodies looked at him dead in the eye saying ‘you may never meet again’ and this time he screamed so loud he woke himself up from the nightmare, still screaming. 

He felt a strong grip holding him down ‘It’s alright, you’re ok…’ He looked up to find the stranger at his side with a worried look on his face; that was the first time he had seen any kind of emotion in it. His breath steadied and he saw the sun was already out, it looked like it was mid-morning already and he wondered how much time he had slept. The man let him go with a pat on his back and went back to whatever he was doing before that, which looked like breakfast. Bellamy found he was fully recovered and had enough strength to even stand up, so he did, slowly, and looked at the table where the man was skinning a couple of rabbits, he could feel his stomach growling and remembered he hadn’t eaten for almost a whole day.

‘So…’ Bellamy started while sitting on the other side of the table, grabbing the other rabbit and skinning it as well ‘Is this your house?’ The stranger didn’t answer for a couple of minutes, and while Bellamy felt all his nerves prickle he decided it was wiser to take a deep breath and give it time, it had become obvious the stranger wasn’t a talker. 

‘It isn’t’ His gravelly voice broke the silence ‘There are tree houses just like this one, all along this part of the forest, heading north’ He said, pointing behind Bellamy, where north would be. 

Bellamy remembered the wrecked house he saw on the river the day before but before he could say anything, to his surprise, the stranger talked again. ‘Clarke used to live here before me, when she left I decided to stay here for a while.’ 

‘You said she saved your life… Do you mean in a figurative way or a literal one?’ Bellamy said with a sarcastic tone, but it didn’t seem to reach the man. He stayed quiet again for a while, and Bellamy assumed it just took some time until he figured out how to express himself. Bellamy was surprised he himself was talking so freely with this man he had never met before.

‘After about a year of, uh… Living here; Mount Weather was very interested in holding me prisoner’ He took a deep breath while still skinning the rabbit ‘I did my best to fight my way out of there, just like your friend, but I wasn’t as lucky…’ His voice trailed off, and it seemed like he was remembering some very unpleasant memories. 

While he recovered his voice he took the two -now skinned- rabbits and saved them in between two clothes, he signaled for Bellamy to follow him and cleared his throat while walking to the second room, where Bellamy saw for the first time there was a place to build a fire, covering all the wooden floor so it won’t catch fire as well. The man took one long wooden stick and stuck it all along through one of the rabbits. He made one of his throaty sounds signaling for Bellamy to do the same with the other while he started a small fire.

‘Clarke told me this, uh… Happened to a friend of yours as well, what they did to me…’ He muttered and Bellamy immediately knew what he was talking about.

‘They turned you into a reaper…’ Bellamy whispered, more to himself, because it was obvious already. ‘H-How did you escape? What happened to the other ones after Mount Weather fell?’ He still felt the words Mount Weather bitter in his mouth, but he was too curious to pay it any mind. 

‘Well… There was no one to give anymore drug doses to the Reapers so bit by bit they all either went completely mad or died, I was part of the second group, I had lost all power and could barely think when Clarke found me. She had come back to Mount Weather and found me in one of the corridors, having an attack, or so she said, I can’t remember any of it…’ He fell silent again, watching the burning rabbit and twisting it around so it got cooked all over, the smell was making Bellamy’s stomach grumble. 

After a couple of quiet minutes, the man’s rough voice broke the silence ‘Something made her help me, and having all the medical equipment in Mount Weather was quiet handy…’ He made a noise that could have been a chuckle ‘Don’t ask me how but she managed to walk me all the way here, somehow I managed to climb, and I slept for a couple of days, on and off. She talked to me when I had enough strength to open my eyes.’ A little something that seemed like a smile appeared on his face and Bellamy felt a tinge of jealousy for having spent time with the Clarke he had missed all this time, but he stayed quiet. 

‘I don’t think she knew I could hear her, so she just poured her heart, I than realized this was the girl that had defeated Mount Weather, this decaying little girl that had saved my life for no reason while she herself was losing her mind with every word that left her mouth.’ He stayed quiet again, the first rabbit was ready to go and he handed it over to Bellamy, who took it eagerly, biting into eat right away, and burning his tongue in the process. 

They didn’t talk much after that, they both ate in silence. Bellamy couldn’t stop thinking about everything he had just heard and with each minute that passed he felt he was getting farther and farther away from Clarke, at some point he couldn’t hold himself any longer; he jumped up, startling the stranger that was eating his rabbit and looked at him straight in the eye. ‘Listen, I need to find her, you don’t understand I feel like if she doesn’t come back soon she’ll lose her mind completely, there are people waiting for her, people who need her and accept what she’d done and she needs to know that— .’ Before he could say anymore the stranger chuckled and signaled for him to stop with a raised hand. 

‘I told you she was busy.’ Bellamy wanted to start screaming again but the man didn’t give him the time ‘She is doing what she does best, she’s leading.’ He said signaling for Bellamy to follow him again. The man grabbed a bag full of stuff so Bellamy took it as a sign to take all his belonging as well, including of course, his gun. 

‘You’ve met the white painted grounders of the other side of the river, their clan is called the War Boys…’ Bellamy thought that was the stupidest name for a clan ever, but decided not to comment ‘Well these war boys are the rivals of a… Let’s say _friend_ ’s clan, this friend of mine and Clarke met a couple of months ago, you could say they got along pretty well…’ He stopped walking than, and signaled for Bellamy to jump over to the branch where they climbed up and down from; so he did and with the stranger after him, they climbed down.  
They landed with a loud thump each and the man started heading north, Bellamy followed feeling there was nothing else he could do, just wait for him to keep talking (it seemed to Bellamy he was talking now for all the time lost in that silence he appreciated so much). 

‘Well, can I go see them?’ Bellamy let out with a tight voice.

‘They don’t really appreciate… Man presence. They’ll most likely shoot you if they see you approaching their camp.’ He scratched his head and looked back at Bellamy, who looked at him dumbfounded, if the man thought that was the time to joke, he was wrong.

‘Well do you think I care about that?! I’m going after her and you’re not gonna stop me…’ Bellamy spat and quickened his pace, which was useless since he had no clue where to find this clan; the man chuckled again, irritating Bellamy.

‘Don’t worry I’m not going to stop you’ He said, walking now beside Bellamy ‘But that…’ He said pointing ahead ‘Is not the way.’ Bellamy swore he could choke the man to death if he kept smirking at him like that, but he decided for now he was his best chance at finding Clarke.

‘Aren’t we walking towards the river?’ Bellamy let out after a couple of minutes, a bad feeling creeping up his back, he took hold of his gun. The lack of an answer wasn’t helping, but he calmed himself down, if the man had wanted to kill him he would have done so by now.

‘We have to cross it…’ The man let out and Bellamy looked up at him as if he was crazy, but he didn’t say anymore, instead he grabbed his own gun and looked at Bellamy as if telling him to get ready for anything.

The walked in silence the next hour, it seemed like the man knew every tree in the forest, he walked without making any sound. Twice Bellamy had almost walked straight into a trap and twice the man had stopped him a second before, when they got to the river he signaled for Bellamy to head north, so he did, but that’s when they heard voices, people shouting across the river, they quickly hid behind the trees and bushes and watched. Two white faced grounders, who had white paint all over their bodies as well, were walking down the river, it looked like they were on guard, probably because of the ones that they had killed the day before. Bell was about to signal they should go some other way when the man loaded his gun and walked out the bushes, in a matter of seconds both grounders were down, not dead, but hurt enough so they could not follow.  
The man looked back at Bellamy and with a nod signaled they had to move out, so Bellamy followed, avoiding the two bodies who were crying in pain, the noise would soon bring more grounders, they had to be quick about it. They crossed the river, the water was freezing but the adrenaline in his body didn’t let him feel any of it, he just ran as fast he could, holding up his gun, as the man did.  
As soon as they reached the other side they ran straight to the woods, the sound of his breath and his heart pounding filled his ears and all he could think about was moving his legs, following the exact same steps as the man in front of him. But just when Bellamy thought they had ran far enough, his leg stumbled on something and he fell face forward. He could taste a mix of earth and blood in his mouth, but before he could understand what was happening, the man was lifting him up and making him run again, he could hear now the shouts behind them.

‘Juss Skat!’ They kept shouting in between maniacal laughs, Bellamy was sure they had screamed that the last time he had seen them.

‘What the hell is a Juscat??’ Bellamy almost screamed, both running nonstop.

The man didn’t bother to answer since he had had to dodge a couple of trees, they were both out of breath already and if they didn’t do anything soon they’d probably die. Bellamy stopped, turned and took a shot, one of the grounders went down and two more kept running after them, he wondered why they hadn’t shot already but decided it was wiser to keep running and get the hell out of there. When he turned to run again he couldn’t find the man, and for a split second he thought he’d lost him, until a hand grabbed him and pulled him to the left, he fell to the floor and found the man with a finger over his mouth, signaling him to shut the hell up, so he did. They were hiding in the biggest tree he had ever seen, so big they could both hide inside of it, after he heard the two grounders running ahead he finally released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. ‘Stay…’ The man growled while standing up and looking around, Bellamy would have complained at such an order but he had to catch his breath first.

‘We’ve lost them for now…’ He reported and pulled out a hand for Bellamy to take, which he did reluctantly, and helped him up. ‘But we have to keep moving’

‘Why didn’t they shoot us?’ Bellamy asked immediately, it was too strange. The man looked back at him and let out a breath.

‘You asked what “jus skat” meant… Well it means blood bag, that’s what they call me.’ The man mumbled, walking again, quietly. When he kept silent Bellamy cleared his throat and the man sent him an annoyed look. ‘Before the Mountain Men came up with the reaper drug, they had the War Boys as their weapon, well, as their slaves; years ago there was a big war, they rebelled and escaped, they took over all this area and became this religious, cult-like clan.’ 

Bellamy didn’t know what to say, it made sense that this new world had already its own history but this was the first time he had heard any of it, he was caught in between excitement and shock with these news, it was true they looked a bit crazy, but Bellamy was the first to know you go a little crazy after Mount Weather.

‘After they escaped and the Mountain Men created the reaper drug to create their new weapon, the War Boys looked down on them and treat them as abominations that have to be sacrificed.’ Bellamy thought that would annoy the man, but he was wearing that same blank expression again. It annoyed Bellamy who had been their blood bag for a while himself, the bare memories of it made his body cringe, so he pushed them to the back of his mind.

‘Jus skat…’ Bellamy mumbled, suddenly he realized he had no idea what was the man’s name. ‘Hey, what’s your name? What do I call you?’ He said looking up at him, the man looked back at him with a crooked smile on his face and for a moment he thought he wouldn’t tell him.

‘It’s Max… My name is Max.’ He turned again and kept walking, Bellamy wasn’t sure why but he felt surprised, a weird feeling on his stomach. 

‘My name is—‘ He didn’t have time to finish his sentence when they heard gunshots behind them, in a matter of seconds they were running for their lives again. Max signaled for him to get down and shot twice, but Bellamy didn’t look back to see if he hit anyone, he just kept running, adrenaline taking over again.

‘STOP!’ Max shouted at him and he did, instinctively, he saw than he had almost walked into a trap again, he avoided it and kept running. ‘Turn left, we have to keep moving north!’ He could barely hear him above the sound of his heart pounding, but when he turned he saw a War Boy shooting a bullet that passed right by his head, before he had time to load his gun again Bellamy jumped and pushed him to the ground, punching him in the face; Max who was right behind him, grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back up with a look that said _Ain’t nobody got time for that._

It kept on for about half an hour, they ran with all the strength they had left and shot whenever the War Boys appeared. They ended up back by the river, but here it got so wide it was more like a pond. Max walked straight to the water, throwing his bag and gun on the ground, Bellamy did the same, he hadn’t drank any water all day and he could feel how dehydrated he was; so he knelt down and drank as much as he could, after that he filled the bottle he had brought with him.

‘Are we safe?’ He dared ask. Max who looked rather calm, nodded and kept drinking water. ‘Well how can you be so sure?’ Max stared at him with an irritated expression.

‘I am sure because we’re too close to the Many Mother’s territory’ He said matter-of-factly while cleaning his face and wetting his hair, Bellamy thought it was a bright idea and did the same.

‘What the hell is the Many Mother’s territory??’ He added after washing his face, he was sure the man hated him and his questions but if he had survived Clarke he’d survive him.

‘Well… That, boy, is where your princess is.’


End file.
